Use of electrochromic materials in adaptive optics

Abstract

Electrochromic (EC) materials are used in smart windows that can be darkened by applying a voltage across an EC stack on the window. The associated change in refractive index ( n ) in the EC materials might allow their use in tunable or temperature-insensitive Fabry-Perot filters and transmissive-spatial-light-modulators (SLMs). The authors are conducting a preliminary evaluation of these materials in many applications, including target-in-the-loop systems. Data on tungsten oxide, WO 3 , the workhorse EC material, indicate that it's possible to achieve modest changes in n with only slight increases in absorption between the visible and ~10 μm. This might enable construction of a tunable Fabry-Perot filter consisting of an active EC layer (e.g. WO 3 ) and a proton conductor (e.g.Ta 2 O 5 ) sandwiched between two gold electrodes. A SLM might be produced by replacing the gold with a transparent conductor (e.g. ITO). This SLM would allow broad-band operation like a micromirror array. Since it's a transmission element, simple optical designs like those in liquid-crystal systems would be possible. Our team has fabricated EC stacks and characterized their switching speed and optical properties ( n, k ). We plan to study the interplay between process parameters, film properties, and performance characteristics associated with the FP-filter and then extend what we learn to SLMs. Our goals are to understand whether the changes in absorption associated with changes in n are acceptable, and whether it's possible to design an EC-stack that's fast enough to be interesting. We'll present our preliminary findings regarding the potential viability of EC materials for target-in-the-loop applications.